Carton hosting not just an Open an shut case

The question to Conor Mallaghan, owner/director of Carton House was simple and straightforward.

“Are we coming back here next year for the Irish Open?”, I enquired.

Conor’s reply: “If the Tour ask us to put it on, we’d be only too delighted to do so. We love having the Irish Open here and also what it means to the surrounding area.”

That’s a yes, then, I suggested.

“Well, no, we haven’t been approached and it’s as simple as that”, said Mallaghan.

And if the Open were to return to Carton, would it move to the neighbouring Mark O’Meara designed lay-out?

“It would certainly be ready”, he answered. “In fact, it will be open for play at the end of July and we believe it would make for a wonderful atmosphere. Another advantage would be that we would be able to open both roads into the estate and that would be a huge help where traffic and access are concerned.”

Next port of call was Wilma Erskine, the Secretary/Manager at Royal Portrush, where the event proved such a resounding success 12 months ago.

“The way I hear it is, Portrush is all primed for another Irish Open in 2015,” I put it to her. The smiling response might have been a giveaway but she quickly stressed that it was much too early for such a decision to be made. Wilma will be at the wheel when the next major event to be contested over the Portrush links, the 2014 British Amateur Championship, and that’s enough to be getting on with for the moment.

It is understood that Fáilte Ireland, without whose €1.3m annual support the Open would be history, look favourably on the issue of staging the championship in the north on a fairly regular basis but they cannot and will not carry it indefinitely. Finance is inevitably an all-important factor and while the championship continues without a title sponsor, it’s always going to face an uphill battle in returning to the estimable status it enjoyed back in the hey-days of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, and Nick Faldo.

Pádraig Harrington hinted this week that he had a potential title sponsor up his sleeve but when pressed on it, he stressed there was still a long way to go before any announcement could be made. Graeme McDowell also spoke with a degree of passion and while much of what this most articulate of sportsmen had to say made sense, there was also a degree of pie in the sky about some of his aspirations.

You had to applaud his stance when stating that “the support of myself, Rory, Pádraig, Darren, Shane, Paul and Michael Hoey and all the players beyond, that is guaranteed. We are all very motivated to put this event back on the map.” And there was no argument when he made a case for a title sponsor and a great date on the schedule.

He was on far less solid ground when proposing “a nice swing around Wentworth (the BMW PGA), a nice swing around the Open Championship and another around the Dunhill Links.

“Those are areas on the schedule that we are all looking at. 10 or 15 top players sat down briefly at Wentworth and talked about how we could put together a swing like they have on the West Coast and Florida on the US circuit.”

To McDowell’s credit, he did refer to the fact that almost all of the leading European players now live and play most of their golf in the States.

“I’m not going to be a hypocrite, I’m playing my minimum number of events on the European Tour this year”, he admitted and in doing so, more or less shot to pieces his desire of putting together a succession of swings throughout the European season. “It’s not something I’m particularly proud of but it’s tough to compete against $7 or 8m purses week-in, week-out.”

For the present, a continuation of the present status of the Irish Open looks sure to continue with Fáilte Ireland, the European Tour and the host venue continuing to pay the piper. A return to the O’Meara Course at Carton looks a safe bet for 2014 and the different and remodelled lay-out will make for a welcome change. Whereas the exposed Montgomerie design relies on length and cavernous bunkers for its protection, the O’Meara is tree-lined and makes excellent use of strategically located, mature trees and the River Rye that comes directly into play at a delightful stretch through the 13th, 14th and 15th adorned by a neat little lodge known as Shell House would look fantastic on TV.

There are many hurdles to be crossed and calls to be made but right now, we should be grateful we still have an Irish Open. It’s something many countries cannot say.